Tag: January

As we entered 2018 there was only one thought for me…..marathon training was imminent! As someone who has never trained for a specific event before, this was all new to me and a bit hard to take. Up until now all Iv done is the odd 10k road race here and there and fell races, all of which I haven’t felt the need to train out of the ordinary and just do what I do. Being sensible though I knew I wasn’t going to stand a chance at London if I didn’t get a bit of help and guidance, and some structured training, so I took the plunge and decided on a lactate test….

The Lactate Test

Id heard about these Lactate test for sometime, and the results runners were achieving from them. As much as it interested me previously, I never felt the need before as I wasn’t aiming for any big results. Yes, of course I wanted to be faster, but it wasn’t important to me and I was slowly getting better results on the fells as time went on, so I didn’t bother with it.

As January came around though I was aware that training for London had to start, and I couldn’t just turn up at the start line on 22nd April on my current training regime, so I had to do something. The lactate test blew my mind, the information I got out of it about my body was amazing, with the main piece of info I took away was that for the last 3 years of running Iv not actually been touching my potential. The test finds out what your lactate threshold is, then shows you how to train to that using your heart rate, and basically Iv very rarely ran near my threshold!

After the 2 hour test I was given a training plan aimed at London, which would hopefully help me towards a sub 3hr marathon time. The training plan is like nothing iv ever done before, the sheer quantity of it was going to take a commitment of which Iv never had the motivation to do before, and the effort of the runs are also significantly harder than any training Iv done previously.

This was, and is, going to be a real test of my physical, and mental strength, but I’m hugely determined and want to come away from London in April thinking that the hard work had paid off.

Treadmill session of the lactate test

The Training

The plan I was given consists of running 5 days a week, which mainly includes – 1 recovery run a week, 2 threshold runs, 1 tempo run, and then the standard long run on a Sunday. I quite enjoyed having some structure and routine to my training at first, and I found running to heartrate quite interesting which made the runs that little easier. The pace was a bit of a shock though, as even the recovery run was quicker than what I was use to. I know that the idea of the plan though is to get your body use to running at a quick pace, so that when your marathon comes along you can sustain the pace easier for longer.

This was all fun for the first 10 days, but then I started to struggle with the training……10 days in!! The commitment was getting hard, as juggling 12 hour shifts at work, family life which includes a 2 year and a partner who equally enjoys training, and then an hour of running was becoming a choir. The main difficultly I was, and still are finding though, are the niggles I’m getting. As a fell runner the majority of my training is done on trails, soft ground with loads of cushion, where now I’m doing 40-50 miles a week on tarmac, and Iv developed pains in my knee and foot. The knee issue was sore but I was managing to run on it, with just the occasional twitch which made me stop for a few seconds. However, I think nursing a dicky knee has had some impact on my opposite foot, causing it to be quite painful and swell. I am still managing to run on this as well, but I do need rest days more often and some ice on it regularly to keep it ok to run on. I know I should really rest for a lot longer than a day or two to completely sort the niggles out, but I don’t want to loose too many training days to niggles. Wrong attitude I know, but that’s just me.

Taking precautions on injuries

Aside from the actual training there is the diet, which I thought would be the hardest part for me with this whole marathon training. Up until now Iv been fortunate to always eat and drink what I want and its never effected me, and because of this Iv never had the best diet. There wasn’t a day went past where I didn’t have chocolate, and pre packed sarnies for dinner, and most evenings id have a beer or two. Also, I never drank much water a day, and most days I wouldn’t drink any. Iv made a massive effort to change though which has surprised those around me, who also doubted me changing my diet. Iv hardly touched any sweet stuff this month, drank beer, and I’m consuming around 2 litres of water a day…….and I’m pretty proud of myself!

So what will February bring?

With January being the first month of training, it was a case of me just getting use to the change of lifestyle and adapting to the new training programme. Like I said earlier, I have found it hard at times but I’m enjoying seeing the improvements I’m making and its giving me all the incentive and motivation I need to keep at it.

Thankfully though, February brings with it some racing, and more importantly some fell races!! My first race of the month was today, a 10k road race in Dewsbury. Its known to be a flat fast course so I entered it with the aim for a PB, sub 36. I put a lot of pressure on myself for this, and said that I didn’t get a sub 36 then Id never manage a sub 3hr at London. I know this is nonsense but it was motivation for me, and it spurred me on…….and it worked! I ended up coming home with a new PB of 35:44 and even got a 5k pb in the process. It has set me up for a great month of training and a couple of fell races.

I really can’t wait to get back in the fells as its seemed ages since I was last there. As much as I’m enjoying seeing past splits and pb’s, I can’t wait to get back in the hills where you don’t really care about times and positioning, you just enjoy the adventure of it and the place your at.

Fell running. My happy place.

So that’s month 1 of training for London Marathon. There’s already been some ups and downs, and some huge commitment, but I’m already seeing some improvement in my fitness and running. Hopefully February will be a little less stressful with some enjoyable races……..watch this space.